Israel passes contentious law Judicial Reform Law (GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Why in news?
- Recently, passing a key section of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial judicial reform plans, the Israeli Parliament has limited the country’s Supreme Court’s ability to overturn decisions made by government ministers.
- The new measure was passed by 64-0 votes as the Opposition lawmakers refrained from voting.
- The development has come amid mass protests against the proposed changes across Israel.
What is the new measure that has been passed?
- Under the new law, the Supreme Court cannot overrule the national government using the legal standard of “reasonableness”, a concept that judges previously used to strike down decisions made by lawmakers and ministers.
- It is “a legal standard used by many judicial systems, including Australia, Britain and Canada. A decision is deemed unreasonable if a court rules that it was made without considering all relevant factors or without giving relevant weight to each factor, or by giving irrelevant factors too much weight.”
- The government has argued that the change would help democracy foster in the country as it gives more power to the elected legislators in comparison to unelected judges.
- Opponents, however, see it as a move that would help the ultra-right government enact orthodox and illiberal policies without any intervention of the judiciary.
What are the other proposed reforms?
Apart from reasonableness, there are three other major reforms that have been proposed.
- The government wants to enable the 120-member Parliament, or Knesset, to override any Supreme Court judgement by a simple majority of 61 votes unless those rulings are unanimous.
- A law that would give a greater role to lawmakers in the appointment of Supreme Court judges. As of now, a committee comprising professionals, justices and lawmakers elevate judges to the top court. The new change would provide “lawmakers a majority in the committee, with most coming from the right-wing and religiously conservative ruling coalition”, as per a report by the Associated Press.
- A new measure that would allow ministers to choose their own legal advisors instead of using independent professionals.
How have opponents of the legislation reacted?
- As Israel’s Opposition lawmakers don’t have enough numbers in the Parliament to stop the reforms, non-parliamentary organisations have taken to the streets.
- Since December 2022, when Netanyahu’s coalition came to power, large demonstrations have been taking place in different cities of the country.
- Meanwhile, the Movement for Quality Government, a leading Israeli rights watchdog, has approached the Supreme Court to strike down the new legislature, “setting the stage for a possible constitutional crisis”.
Govt’s draft bill proposes curbs on online sale of drugs
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
Why in news?
- Online pharmacies in India face a tough challenge from the government, which plans to bring a bill that could ban or restrict their operations, despite their pleas in response to notices issued by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) earlier in 2023.
- The latest version of the draft Drugs, Medical Devices and Cosmetics Bill, 2023, has a provision that allows the government to regulate, restrict or ban online sale or distribution of any drug by notification.
Background:
- In a notice to online drug sellers, including Amazon and Flipkart Health, in February, the DCGI had stated that selling, stocking, exhibiting or offering for sale or distribution of drugs through online, internet or other electronic platforms, including various mobile applications, without a licence, could affect the quality of drugs and pose a risk to public health due to potential misuse of drugs through self-medication or indiscriminate use of the drugs.
- Clarifying that no licence was issued to any company for the online sale of drugs, DCGI sought responses from the companies within two days of issuance of the notice, stating that failure to reply may result in immediate action.
- The All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD), which represents about 12.5 lakh pharmacists in India, has also been opposing what they call ‘illegal business practices and predatory prices’ of e-pharmacies.
How online pharmacies are promoting restrictive drugs & self-medication?
- Online pharmacies may offer convenience with no queues, no rush, easy ordering, 24/7 availability and doorstep delivery of medicines via courier.
- In 2019, a white paper on online pharmacies in India, published by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) pointed out that the online availability of prescription drugs was a violation of provisions of various laws like the Pharmacy Act 1868 and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.
- For example, the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, has clear guidelines on the sale of Schedule H and Schedule X drugs, which are ‘restrictive drugs’ and can be sold only on the prescription of a registered medication practitioner. But they are sold indiscriminately in online pharmacies in violation of the guidelines.
- Schedule X drugs include narcotics and psychotropic substances and chances of drug abuse and addiction are higher with these drugs, while they also require meticulous storage and dispensing records.
- Schedule H1 (a part of Schedule H), which contains some habit-forming drugs, apart from various antibiotics, mandates a licensed pharmacist to maintain a separate register for sale of drugs with details of the patient, doctor and name of drug(s), besides quantity. These records are to be kept for three years and are open to inspection by regulatory authorities.
